Thanks, Alfred. I'm never sure.

It sounds as though your attitude is like mine, Karen. It’s easy enough to log out of a site to find out what you can see and/or what features you can use, but then you’re faced with the terrible tedium of having to log back in again!

KarenPL wrote:

I don't know if the Twitter post will show for people -
https://x.com/maria_drutska/status/1762 … 75396?s=20 but this is the Mentor application form mentioned in the post.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIp … form?pli=1

You don’t need to be logged in to Twitter to view the tweet, but I’m pretty sure you do need to be logged in to a Google account to fill in and submit the form.

Thanks, Alfred. I'm never sure.

I don't know if the Twitter post will show for people -
https://x.com/maria_drutska/status/1762 … 75396?s=20 but this is the Mentor application form mentioned in the post.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIp … form?pli=1

You don’t need to be logged in to Twitter to view the tweet, but I’m pretty sure you do need to be logged in to a Google account to fill in and submit the form.

I've just had a short verification interview via Zoom, to ensure that I was a) a real person, b) could speak decent English  , and c) check I had a sufficient connection, and am now in the process of waiting for a week or two to be matched up with Ukrainians who wish to perfect, and become confident in their use of, English.

I don't know if the Twitter post will show for people -
https://x.com/maria_drutska/status/1762 … 75396?s=20 but this is the Mentor application form mentioned in the post.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIp … form?pli=1

I'm not a teacher but just having someone to chat to and stretch their vocabulary and grammar still makes me useful. As a plus, it can be a bit of a two-way street and I can hear Ukrainian spoken. Might check up on the pronunciation of a few swear words...

It sounds as if the more the merrier, so if anyone has a bit of spare time...

Carry on Karen .. use it or lose it ..

Keeps me out of mischief, too.

Yes, I have found it very useful to follow the Ukrainian You Tube videos I am subscribed to.

I did complete the Duolingo Ukrainian course in just under 300 days last year so I can recognise a few phrases, but, for me, it's not an ideal way to learn the general language. There is no real explanation of grammar and quite a few of the sentences it comes up with are weird, to say the least. I'm not sure how often I am going to want to say "This is a strange flower that grows on a tree", for instance. There seems to be a paucity of standard meaningful phrases you might need to use in conversation.

I am now starting to continue my learning process in a more structured way via text books. It is very similar to Latin grammatically, and I am also going back to refresh my schoolgirl 'O' Level Latin, partly to help with the Ukrainian, but also to be able to understand some of the older sources as I scramble through my family tree.

So there is a mix of the modern way of doing things, which can also include translation apps, and the old-fashioned way. Keeps the old grey cells ticking over, at least. I actually impress myself with how much of the schoolgirl French I learned has stuck in the brain. Typically for me, I only got a B grade in the living useful language, and an A grade in the 'dead' one. But listening to spoken French, and /or reading written French I can still get the gist, even if I can't do a full translation.

Carry on Karen .. use it or lose it ..

Alfred wrote:

Thanks for the link, Paul. As you say, an interesting piece.

pberk wrote:

I don't understand the French

YouTube’s auto-translated closed captions (CC) aren’t too bad. By default they’re at the bottom of the video, so they obscure the French subtitles that are included in this one, but you can simply drag them to another part of the screen if you want to be able to see both.

To enable CC, click on the icon to the left of the Settings cog in the control console. When you click on the Settings cog itself you should find that Subtitles/CC is set to ‘French (auto-generated)’. Click on that option to display a menu where you can change it to ‘Auto-translate’, and then scroll down the list that pops up until you find English.

Thanks Alfred.  That works.  An amazing age we live in ..

Yes, I have found it very useful to follow the Ukrainian You Tube videos I am subscribed to.

I did complete the Duolingo Ukrainian course in just under 300 days last year so I can recognise a few phrases, but, for me, it's not an ideal way to learn the general language. There is no real explanation of grammar and quite a few of the sentences it comes up with are weird, to say the least. I'm not sure how often I am going to want to say "This is a strange flower that grows on a tree", for instance. There seems to be a paucity of standard meaningful phrases you might need to use in conversation.

I am now starting to continue my learning process in a more structured way via text books. It is very similar to Latin grammatically, and I am also going back to refresh my schoolgirl 'O' Level Latin, partly to help with the Ukrainian, but also to be able to understand some of the older sources as I scramble through my family tree.

So there is a mix of the modern way of doing things, which can also include translation apps, and the old-fashioned way. Keeps the old grey cells ticking over, at least. I actually impress myself with how much of the schoolgirl French I learned has stuck in the brain. Typically for me, I only got a B grade in the living useful language, and an A grade in the 'dead' one. But listening to spoken French, and /or reading written French I can still get the gist, even if I can't do a full translation.

Thanks for the link, Paul. As you say, an interesting piece.

pberk wrote:

I don't understand the French

YouTube’s auto-translated closed captions (CC) aren’t too bad. By default they’re at the bottom of the video, so they obscure the French subtitles that are included in this one, but you can simply drag them to another part of the screen if you want to be able to see both.

To enable CC, click on the icon to the left of the Settings cog in the control console. When you click on the Settings cog itself you should find that Subtitles/CC is set to ‘French (auto-generated)’. Click on that option to display a menu where you can change it to ‘Auto-translate’, and then scroll down the list that pops up until you find English.

Thanks Alfred.  That works.  An amazing age we live in ..

YouTube’s auto-translated closed captions (CC) aren’t too bad. By default they’re at the bottom of the video, so they obscure the French subtitles that are included in this one, but you can simply drag them to another part of the screen if you want to be able to see both.

To enable CC, click on the icon to the left of the Settings cog in the control console. When you click on the Settings cog itself you should find that Subtitles/CC is set to ‘French (auto-generated)’. Click on that option to display a menu where you can change it to ‘Auto-translate’, and then scroll down the list that pops up until you find English.

Haring was an American artist who died in 1990 at the age of 31.

I don't understand the French but the piece is still interesting.

This is not your Grandfather's French class.  Only 2 1/2 min.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyPwuxgCnYg&t=15s